Welby et al.Dysphagia in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome perinatal dysphagia in 22q11DS. This new recognition of persistent challenges with feeding and swallowing may provide opportunities for improved therapeutic intervention for adolescents and adults with 22q11DS, as well as others with a history of perinatal feeding and swallowing disorders.

Objective Dysphagia is common following facial nerve injury; however, research is sparse regarding swallowing‐related outcomes and targeted treatments. Previous animal studies have used eye blink and vibrissae movement as measures of facial nerve impairment and recovery. The purpose of this study was to create a mouse model of facial nerve injury that results in dysphagia to enhance translational research outcomes. Study design Prospective animal study. Methods Twenty C57BL/6J mice underwent surgical transection of the main trunk (MT) (n = 10) or marginal mandibular branch (MMB) (n = 10) of the left facial nerve. Videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) assays for drinking and eating were performed at baseline and 14 days postsurgery to quantify several deglutition‐related outcome measures. Results VFSS analysis revealed that MT transection resulted in significantly slower lick and swallow rates during drinking (P ≤ .05) and significantly slower swallow rates and longer inter‐swallow intervals during eating (P ≤ .05), congruent with oral and pharyngeal dysphagia. After MMB transection, these same VFSS metrics were not statistically significant (P > .05). Conclusion The main finding of this study was that transection of the facial nerve MT leads to oral and pharyngeal stage dysphagia in mice; MMB transection does not. These results from mice provide novel insight into specific VFSS metrics that may be used to characterize dysphagia in humans following facial nerve injury. We are currently using this surgical mouse model to explore promising treatment modalities such as electrical stimulation to hasten recovery and improve outcomes following various iatrogenic and idiopathic conditions affecting the facial nerve. Level of Evidence NA Laryngoscope, 131:17–24, 2021

Objective The aim of this study is to identify clinicopathologic features associated with positive margins after surgical treatment of cutaneous melanoma of the head and neck (CMHN). Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting National Cancer Database. Methods A retrospective analysis of the National Cancer Database was performed of patients diagnosed with CMHN between 2004 and 2016. Univariate and multivariate analyses examining the association of clinicopathologic features with positive margins were performed via logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 101,560 patients met inclusion criteria. The incidence of positive margins was 5.0% (5128/101,560). Patients were significantly more likely to have positive margins with the following: increasing age ( P < .001; odds ratio [OR], 1.028; 95% CI, 1.026-1.031), the lip subsite ( P < .001; OR, 1.664; 95% CI, 1.286-2.154), the eyelid subsite ( P < .001; OR, 2.380; 95% CI, 1.996-2.838), the face subsite ( P < .001; OR, 1.215; 95% CI, 1.133-1.302), the lentigo maligna/lentigo maligna melanoma subtype ( P = .019; OR, 1.099; 95% CI, 1.016-1.188), the desmoplastic subtype ( P < .001; OR, 1.455; 95% CI, 1.261-1.680), the spindle cell subtype ( P = .006; OR, 1.276; 95% CI, 1.073-1.516), and advanced pT classification. Patients with male sex ( P < .001; OR, 0.733; 95% CI, 0.687-0.782) and without ulceration ( P < .001; OR, 0.803; 95% CI, 0.736-0.876) were significantly less likely to have positive margins. Conclusion The following have been identified as clinicopathologic features associated with positive margins after surgical treatment of CMHN: increasing age, female sex, the lip subsite, the eyelid subsite, the face subsite, ulceration, the lentigo maligna/lentigo maligna melanoma subtype, the desmoplastic subtype, the spindle cell subtype, and increasing pT classification.

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